“The Prince at home”: revealing Prince Rainier III’s daily life
A new exhibition traces Prince Rainier III's public and private lives. © Detaille – Prince's Palace archives
Part of the Prince Rainier III centenary celebrations, the exhibition opens on 31 May in the Prince’s Palace.
Walking around the palace’s State Apartments, a hundred or so still and moving images illustrate Prince Rainier III’s work and personality. “Le Prince chez lui” (The Prince at Home) is the result of a collaborative effort by the Palace Archives and the Audiovisual Institute to put together these moments from his lifetime, whether they were captured in the Palace or in the Sovereign’s other residences. Three aspects of the Prince’s life and reign will be presented.
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The first aspect is the Sovereign performing his duties, “doing the paperwork” in the palace, surrounded by his staff, and celebrating the national holiday every 19 November, with a very precise ritual. The Prince’s Palace was where distinguished guests were received, where major events in political life took place, and where the tradition of artistic patronage by the Princes of Monaco was perpetuated. This is also where the Prince’s public image was – patiently – crafted through the media.
The next aspect, the man who had a different home for each of the phases of his life: the Palace of Monaco where he was born and grew up until his studies and wartime, the villa “Iberia” in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, where the bachelor Prince stayed until his marriage to Grace Kelly, the house at Rocagel that he built for his family, and finally Marchais castle, the traditional Grimaldi residence since 1854. It is also an opportunity to discover the Prince’s personal passions, which reveal his personality and his commitments. Away from the role of Sovereign or father, he would retire to his workshop, where he modelled wrought iron sculptures.
The last aspect of the exhibition focuses on the Prince’s finest hours at the palace, from his apprenticeship at the end of the Second World War, to the Franco-Monegasque crisis and the proclamation of a new constitution in 1962, as well as the times shared with the population.
Here is the full programme of Prince Rainier III’s centenary celebrations.
Useful info
From 31 May 2023 to 21 August 2023 in the State Apartments at the Prince’s Palace.